Coverage: Day 4

Not such a great day today, definitely back down to a D. I really have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just going to skip over all of that and get right to today’s acknowledgements.

I swear that overnight, 20 miles gets added to the Saw Mill River Parkway, and then taken away in the evenings. That’s not really an acknowledgment but just wanted to get that out there.

Thanks to the company for the injunction. Much appreciated.

I had to say goodbye to my partner Mike, whom I shall refer to as the Rabbi (I think he’d take it as a compliment) because I have a new partner, also named Mike. I shall miss the Rabbi but he’s been reassigned to FIOS and goes off to training tomorrow. So many many thanks to him and I’ll just share one last funny story from yesterday, when we were in the CO working, me and the Rabbi and Kerry. We had traced a line together all the way back to the equipment side of the frame. The origin of dial tone. And we stared at the boxes and wires in awe and Kerry said, “I don’t get it though, if this is the beginning of it…where does it come from?” We continued to stare in silence for another 10 seconds and then I said, “Maybe it comes from God?” And then the Rabbi said, “I was thinking it’s Lance Armstrong downstairs on a bicycle…”

And speaking of partners, a former one cheered me up tremendously this morning. Thanks, big wolf.

Many thanks to my new partner Mike, Irish Mike, cut from entirely different cloth but a real prince of a guy, extremely patient with me as I proved my utter uselessness in the field but made me feel that maybe there was hope. His wife also works for the company and her strike coverage hours are 24 on, 18 off. She and Mike haven’t seen each other for 3 days. Chew on that.

Speaking of which, many thanks for the community hospital in Pomona that served me a bracing helping of “Shut the F Up” when I was about to go into another bout of self-pity.

Thanks to myself and whatever inner survival instinct I possess that makes me not too proud to pee against a tree 15 feet away from men I barely know. Trust me, there are a lot of DISGUSTING bathrooms out there and when you’re at a cross-box in the middle of freakin’ nowhere, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. OK?

Gratitude, kisses and bouquets to my seester-in-law who played mind games with me from 5-6, when I was fading fast.

HUGE thanks to the two guys in the break room whose conversation I overheard on my way out, and made me leave the garage with a smile on my face:
Guy #1 – “Between training and the strike, I feel like I haven’t seen my kids in weeks.”
Guy #2 – “Dude, between training and the strike, I haven’t been laid in a month.”
I feel your pain, boys. Between the hours, the fatigue, and the stress, I think a lot of us are wondering if we’re ever getting laid again. Moving on…

Thank you Eddie Vedder and your song “Big Hard Sun” which came on as I was crossing the TZ. Beautiful. Perfect.

Thank you to my son who opened the car door and jumped right into my lap before I had it in Park.

Thank you to my husband who had the dinner hot and the Mike’s Hard Lemonade cold.

Thank you to my daughter who asked if I could read something to her after dinner. I thought I had about 20 minutes of fuel left in me. So I picked up Maeve Binchy’s “Circle of Friends” and started to read…an hour later, she went to bed. Best hour of my day.

Suanne – I have missed your blogging greatly. I am in awe of your strength and courage. Everytime you get through another challenge I high five the air – you make me proud! Love you and miss you my friend!